Arms Deal Cools U.S.-China Ties

Chinese Put Freeze on Military Exchanges After $6.4 Billion American Weapons Sale to Taiwan

Andrew Browne And Jason Dean

Updated Feb. 1, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

BEIJING—China's suspension of military exchanges with the U.S. in retaliation for a $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan heightens the risk of friction between Beijing and Washington at a time when they are already at loggerheads over a host of security and economic issues.

China announced the freeze on military exchanges Saturday, and summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing for a formal complaint, following the Obama administration's announcement Friday that it is proceeding with the sale of antimissile systems, helicopters and other arms to Taiwan.

U.S. officials say the risks with China can be contained; neither side wants to allow what is arguably the most important bilateral relationship in the world to veer out of control.

Still, relations are likely to get rockier before any improvement, as the Obama administration appears increasingly frustrated by Beijing's refusal to budge on a range of sensitive subjects, from Iran to currency policy to climate change. Further raising the temperature, President Barack Obama is expected to meet soon with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader whom Beijing denounces as a separatist for his efforts to win greater autonomy for the Himalayan region.

The Chinese foreign ministry said Saturday the suspension of military exchanges would affect vice-ministerial meetings scheduled soon on security, arms control and antiproliferation. China also will impose sanctions on those U.S. companies involved in the arms sales to Taiwan.

In the meeting with U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said the arms package for Taiwan "constitutes a gross intervention into China's internal affairs," according to a foreign ministry statement. China is "extremely indignant," the statement said.

Beijing previously suspended military exchanges with the U.S. after George W. Bush authorized a separate weapons package for Taiwan in 2008. But military ties were re-established last year and had been gradually mending before the Obama administration announced the latest sale.

With military exchanges on ice, the immediate danger is that wider relations will become more vulnerable to the kind of flare-ups that periodically roil them. Last March, a U.S. surveillance ship narrowly avoided a collision with Chinese vessels crowding around it in the South China Sea. Bilateral military exchanges are aimed, in part, at reducing that kind of danger by building mutual trust.

The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act obligates the U.S. to "provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character." But such arms sales infuriate China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as part of its territory, and has threatened to use force to prevent it from permanent independence. Taiwan is seen as the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations—the problem thought to have the potential to provoke armed confrontation between the world's reigning superpower and a rising Asian economic juggernaut.

The U.S. arms package doesn't include F-16 fighters, which Taiwan covets. But it includes other sophisticated weaponry.

The latest row further dashes expectations that the Obama administration harbored in its early days that it could partner with China to deal with a range of global issues. Instead, the rhetoric from both sides has grown sharper in recent weeks.

A White House spokesman couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said China risks diplomatic isolation and economic uncertainty if it doesn't join the push to further sanction Iran for its nuclear program. Her comments were some of her most pointed on Beijing's reluctance to support United Nations penalties to curb Iran's pursuit of nuclear technologies and weapons-delivery systems.

Alexander Huang, strategic-studies professor at Tamkang University in Taipei, voiced doubt that Beijing's protests would go too far. Chinese leaders have known for a long time that reversing U.S. policy on arms sales to Taiwan won't be easy, Mr. Huang said.

—Jay Solomon in Washington, Ting-I Tsai in Taipei and Shai Oster in Beijing contributed to this article.

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